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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - While many other business in Yellowknife are shrinking, Ragnar Wesstrom's Enodah Wilderness Travel and Trout Rock Lodge is expanding - and right on schedule.

"The crew is out there doing 12 hours a day, doing a hell of a good job in -40 C weather," said Wesstrom.

Wesstrom is expanding Enodah by 16 beds and building a new conference facility. He's hoping the expansion will attract more fishing tourists and businesspeople alike to the lodge, which is a 12-minute float plane trip from Yellowknife.

So far, it appears to be working. He's already 85 per cent booked for the fishing season this summer.

"Each unit in the fourplex has got their own washrooms and showers and all that stuff. It's the new selling point for the corporate market," said Wesstrom.

He added while his lodge has always acted as a spot for business meetings, he's now targeting the local Yellowknife market for corporate workshops and company gatherings specifically.

"We couldn't accommodate more than 15 people before. Now we can accommodate 30, so that's a big difference," said Wesstrom.

"We had lots of calls for bigger groups that we couldn't handle in the past.

"But now we're going to be able to look after them good," he added.

Construction on the expansion started last fall and is set for completion by the end of May, at latest, because that's when the guests arrive. The speedy timeline, said Wesstrom, was made possible by the Swedish military - well, kind of.

Wesstrom brought in a team of Hagglund BV206s, an all-terrain, amphibious tracked vehicle built in Sweden and originally designed for military use.

The Hagglund is ideally suited to work in extremes, like the arctic cold or tropic heat, and can climb 60 degree inclines and swim without preparation.

"Without them, I don't think we would be where we are now. To haul all that stuff in with snowmobiles would take forever," said Wesstrom.

The construction work is being done by Yellowknife contractor B&C Construction, who Wesstrom commended.

"The owner (Brian Baggs) is doing a good job.

"His crew, they're on the ball. Everything is going smooth."

Baggs agreed things are right on schedule and added he has enjoyed working with the Hagglunds.

"Oh they're incredible machines. It's quite a ways through the bush and those made it real easy to get material out there," he said.

"It's almost too good to be true," added Wesstrom. "Everything is going tickety-boo."